Office Depot Acquires Office Products Dealer

May 18, 2006|By Jaclyn Giovis Business Writer

Office Depot Inc., the nation's No. 2 office supply retailer, announced Wednesday that it bought Allied Office Products Inc., the largest independent dealer of office products and services in the United States.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Allied has annual revenues of more than $300 million. The Clifton, N.J.-based company has about 900 full-time employees and operates 15 sales offices from New York to California. Allied employs more than 300 account executives and 180 local customer service representatives.

"We're really excited about what the acquisition means to Office Depot," said Cindy Campbell, executive vice president of Office Depot's North American Business Solutions Division.

Delray Beach-based Office Depot now will have deeper market penetration in the Northeast and will learn from Allied's strengths in providing products and services to customers in the legal and medical fields, Campbell said. At the same time, Office Depot is equipped to serve many of Allied's existing customers with their global business needs, she said.

There are no immediate plans to lay off sales associates and customer service employees or to consolidate Allied sales offices, Campbell said. Details about how the two companies will integrate their business and employee functions are still being worked out.

"We're in a growth mode," Campbell said. "There's no reason to assume that we wouldn't need all of the sales associates."

Last month, Office Depot announced layoffs of more than 100 customer service employees from the Boca Raton call center. Those employees were part of the company's Business Solutions Division, which has been aggressively outsourcing various employee functions to third parties since October 2004 and expanding its use of virtual call centers, a setup that allows employees to work from their homes.

Officials from Allied declined to comment on the announcement, deferring to Office Depot officials.

Chairman and CEO of Allied Office Products Howard Brown and his son Michael, who currently serves as the company's president, as well as other key executives, will continue as part of the management team within the business solutions division.